1973 THA-Cambodian future journalists
austraLasia #1973

Cambodian journalists of the future

PHNOM PENH: 1st November 2007 -- Social communication students from Don Bosco Sihanoukville visited The Cambodian Daily, The Mirror and Globe Magazine in the capital on October 30, three of the most important of the print media in Cambodia. The boys, who are starting a two year program in social communication with subjects like journalism, television, radio, Internet and social work, had the opportunity to talk to "real" journalists and ask questions such as how they get information, the risks of being a journalist, and many others.
    The visits to a newspaper and a magazine kept the attention of the boys who noticed the big differences between the two print media: "While the newspaper has to say what is happening now, the magazine has more time to develop stories. Nobody buys yesterday's paper, but you can keep a magazine and read it in the coming months", said Tassilo Brinzer, the German Editor in Chief of Globe, a Cambodian English Magazine. "Be honest, trustworthy and accurate", said Kevin Doyle, Editor in Chief of The Cambodian Daily, one of the most popular English newspapers in Cambodia. Doyle, an Irishman, worked as a volunteer for the Don Bosco Foundation in Cambodia before he went to Dublin to study journalism and returned to work for Cambodia. "When I was here during the 1990's there was little information about what was happening in the world; Cambodians knew very little about international news... so we produced this newspaper so Cambodians could be well informed about that", the journalist said.
    Open Institutions, on the other hand, is an organization for the development of Free and Open Source Software for Cambodians in the promotion of the Khmer language through the Internet, computers and E-Learning. Javier Solá, the Spanish Co-Director of Khmer Software Initiative, welcomed the boys and showed them how Khmer Websites are being developed in Cambodia today, and what E-Learning is, so farmers and people from villages can study without coming to the cities. He explained the use of Khmer OS Fonts so Cambodians do not need to switch to English to access the Internet or just use a computer. The organisation donated the package of Khmer Free Software to the section and promised to send an instructor soon to Don Bosco Sihanoukville.
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